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Im wanting to finish my knives off better than the 10k chosera so I figured I'd ask. I was going to get the Kangaroo strop and paste due to good reviews but I'd rather ask.

Bonus question, is there anything wrong with occasionally touching up a knife starting at 5k chosera to 10k chosera instead of relying on a steel? I find if I have the option, and I notice a burr or something off, I'll go back to a very high stone just to bring it back. Thoughts?

Never used balsa but have used leather quite a bit with various diamond paste grits between 1 micron and 28 micron. Cow and horse hide both, horse is harder. The coarser grit diamond pastes have proven to be a TRUELY WONDERFUL addition to my sharpening options. I can't emphasize this enough. The coarser grit strops make touching up an edge that is duller than you would normally use a strop on possible. When I have a knife that is dull enough that a 1 micron strop won't help, I'd normally use a fine grit stone for a touch up. Now I have the option of a fine stone or coarser grit strop. It just gives us the option of stone or strop for a quick touch up as well as polishing a new edge or bevel. I believe the reason is stropping with leather, which is soft, the leather will wrap around the edge a little. This makes the angle you hold the blade a little more forgiving IMO. Presently I have DMT 1, 3, 6 micron and some generic diamond pastes of 5, 14, 28 micron. I use the DMT 1 micron and generic 14 micron on seperate strops for the EP. The EP strops I'm using are new and I really like them. The only drawback is you need to be VERY VERY careful or you will cut up the leather. Well, I have anyway. I have recently gotten Shapton Glass stones (EP) of 2k and 6k grit. I'm amazed at the edge and polished finish these stones leave compared to other stones I've used. However, I have never used any other "high-performance" stones. No matter what stones I've used a strop still imporves the finish and/or edge if only by a tiny bit.

I want to try stropping with balsa. I have a pre-experience opinion that being harder than leather they will act more like a stone than the strops I'm used to. My cow hide strops are soft and the horse hide strops are considerably harder. I've found I like the horse more for a final edge and the cow more for polishing the bevel. The balsa would be nice for the edge I think. Using different grit compounds would be a way to have a toothy or smooth edge (either) without touching a polished bevel. Of course, these are just my thoughts prior to any actual experience. Sometimes my thought prove to have been a waste of brain cells.

I wanted to edit my previous post but didn't see an "edit" option or button. Can you do this?

What I wanted to add is my experience is mainly with folding knives and fixed blade knives. This forum is dealing with a different type of knife to a large extent. Kitchen cutlery. The only kitchen knives I sharpen are the ones in my house. I'm enjoying what I'm reading. I've already picked up a few things that help my technique (or cost me money ).

Just wanted to say thanks to those I'm learning from. Also, the selection of sharpening supplies on this site is the largest I've seen.

Texanaviator wrote:Im wanting to finish my knives off better than the 10k chosera so I figured I'd ask. I was going to get the Kangaroo strop and paste due to good reviews but I'd rather ask.

Bonus question, is there anything wrong with occasionally touching up a knife starting at 5k chosera to 10k chosera instead of relying on a steel? I find if I have the option, and I notice a burr or something off, I'll go back to a very high stone just to bring it back. Thoughts?

Saludos,

Nic

.5 micron diamond spray on leather or kangaroo works great after the chosera 10K. It adds a little bite to the edge, evens out the edge and further polishes it.

I'd appreciate opinions and advice about "stropping" with the EP. I have a strop with soft cowhide and 14 micron diamond paste. I've used the leather for strops but never on an EP. I don't think I like using soft strop material on the EP. So, what do you guys who strop with the EP use for material? Balsa would make sense or harder leather. I have not used the EP much for stropping. That's why I'm asking for advice. I've been of the opinion that softer leather was better for polishing multi-bevel and convex edges because it wraps around the edge more than harder leather. This also means holding the angle during each stroke is more forgiving. The only thing that is not forgiving is to never let the leather wrap around the actual edge and rounding it. Holding a lower angle and light strokes polished the edge nicely. Harder leather could be better for dealing with just the edge or one bevel and balsa wood may even be better.

Any information on using different materials is appreciated for stropping with the EP. What do you use and why? Thank you in advance.

I forgot to ask what is the texture like of the Hand American 6"x12" honing leather for $14.95? I know it's hard sometimes to call something hard or soft because our experiences are different. Let's call balsa hard of course and soft leather some that when you push the side of a knife edge into it you can see it easily press into the leather. My experience is cow hide and horse hide. Horse is considerably harder.

Since no one answered you regarding Kangaroo, the 'roo leather is very thin and smooth. Because it is mounted on a solid base, it presents itself as a very hard surface with minimal give. Also because it is such a fine surface, it works quite nicely with all grits but particularly with very fine grits and even without grit.

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